was the second son of
Bleddyn ap Cynfyn
(q.v.)
. He is first heard of in
1088
, when, with his brothers,
Madog
and
Rhiryd
, he attacked
Deheubarth
and drove
Rhys ap Tewdwr
(q.v.)
into exile. Later in the year,
Rhys
returned with a fleet from
Ireland
and met the men of
Powys
in a battle, in which
Madog
and
Rhiryd
fell, but from which
Cadwgan
escaped. The death of
Rhys
in
1093
seemed to offer an opportunity for renewing the foiled attempt upon the South, but a few weeks sufficed to show that it was the
Normans
who were to profit, and this on a grand scale, by the untoward event. It was about this time that
Cadwgan
, as a measure of defence, m. the daughter of his
Norman
neighbour,
Picot de
Sai
, whom
Domesday
shows as the
lord of Clun
and the surrounding area. He took an active part in the
Welsh
upheaval of the reign of
William
Rufus
, defeating the
Normans
in
1094
at the
battle of Coed Yspwys
(its site is unknown) and joining
Gruffudd ap Cynan
(q.v.)
in the defence of
Anglesey
and the flight to
Ireland
of
1098
. When better conditions enabled the two to return to
Wales
in
1099
,
Cadwgan
received from
earl Robert of Shrewsbury
in vassalage his share of
Powys
and, therewith,
Ceredigion
. He allowed himself to be drawn into the
revolt of the Montgomery family
against
Henry
I
in
1102
, but escaped the ruin which befell the
earl
in
1103
and retained his dominions.
The last years of his life were disturbed by the violence and family feuds of the line of
Powys
. His son
Owain
(q.v.)
was an outstanding offender. The shameless abduction of
Nest
(
fl.
1120
) (q.v.)
by
Owain
in
1109
imperilled the position of his father, who was at first left with nothing more than the vill he had received in frank marriage with his wife, but later received
Ceredigion
. This he lost in
1110
, as the result of further misdeeds of
Owain
;
Ceredigion
was given to
Gilbert Fitz
Richard
(see under
Clare
) and became a
Norman
lordship, while
Cadwgan
sank into a landless
royal pensioner
. Again there was a turn of fortune, when his brother
Iorwerth
was
murdered
in
1111
by
his nephew,
Madog ap Rhiryd
; the
king
restored him to
southern Powys
. But in the same year he also fell a victim to the same unnatural assailant; while planning to build a castle at
Trallwng Llywelyn
(
Welshpool
) he was
treacherously attacked and, with little resistance, slain
.
Cadwgan
is described by the ‘
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
’ in
1097
as the ‘worthiest’ of the
Welsh
leaders in that year, and his record as a
ruler
is not discreditable. Besides the two sons,
Henry
and
Gruffydd
, born to his
Norman
wife, he left
Owain
(d.
1116
)
,
Madog
,
Einion
(d.
1123
),
Morgan
(d.
1128
), and
Maredudd
(d.
1124
).
Sir John Edward Lloyd, D.Litt., F.B.A., F.S.A. (1861-1947), Bangor
